It is standard procedure when someone I don’t know contacts me via my web site or a floor call, to google them. I basically check to see if they have a criminal record or were mentioned in the paper for some nefarious reason. It’s not fail-safe, by any means. Another agent did the same thing and nothing negative turned up. But when she got to the house and met the client, he asked her if she’d ever though about being killed in a place like that. She promptly dialed 911 on her cell and the showing ended.
I like the extra bit of info I can obtain about someone. It helps me prepare. For example, in 2004, I received a floor call (someone called the office to find an agent to show them a house) and I googled the wife’s and husband’s names in. I discovered the wife was active in our local Democratic Party. So, I knew if I had had a George W. Bush bumper sticker, I’d have needed to scrape it off before meeting with them.
The query for the husband’s name brought paydirt. I discovered he was an engineer, and had penned such thought-provoking work as The Path of a 1-mm Paramecium Through a Solution Containing 2% Carbolic Acid. Wow. He was going to be a real ball of fire, I just knew it.
Due to Hanford, we deal with a lot of engineers in our line of work. Because my husband has an engineer slant himself (I call it anal-retentive, he calls it meticulous), I am used to dealing with people who are on the other end of the personality spectrum from me. And I enjoy it. I value what they bring to the table. After all, someone’s gotta design the reactor, and it ain’t gonna be me!
And, if you Google me, I am not the Cari McGee with a son named Chris who bought a house in Nampa, ID. Just so that’s clear.
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